dalk

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English dalke, dalk, from Old English dalc (“clasp, buckle, brooch, bracelet”), from Proto-Germanic *dalkaz (“clasp, pin”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰelg- (“to stick; needle, pin”). Cognate with Icelandic dálkur (“cloak-pin”), Latin falx (“scythe”).

Noun

dalk (plural dalks)

  1. A pin; brooch; clasp

Etymology 2

Perhaps a diminutive of dale, dell.

Alternative forms

  • delk

Noun

dalk (plural dalks)

  1. (now rare) A hollow or depression.
    • 1969, Vladimir Nabokov, Ada or Ardor, Penguin 2011, p. 120:
      On a sunny September morning, with the trees still green, but the asters and fleabanes already taking over in ditch and dalk, Van set out for Ladoga, N.A.

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Afrikaans dadelik (“immediately”), from Dutch dadelijk. The sense shift from “immediately” to “possibly” is similar to English dialectal drekly from directly.

Adverb

dalk

  1. perchance, perhaps, possibly
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